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Mystery Train
For other uses, see Mystery Train (disambiguation). "Mystery Train" Single by Little Junior's Blue Flames B-side "Love My Baby" Released November 1953 Format 10" 78 rpm & 7" 45 rpm record Recorded September–October 1953 at Memphis Recording Service, Memphis, Tennessee Genre Blues, electric blues, Memphis blues1 Length 2:20 Label Sun 192 Writer(s) Junior Parker Producer(s) Sam Phillips "Mystery Train" is a song recorded by American blues musician Junior Parker in 1953. Considered a blues standard,2 Parker, billed as "Little Junior's Blue Flames", recorded the song for producer/Sun Records owner Sam Phillips and it was released on the Sun label. The song was written by Junior Parker (aka Herman Parker), with a credit later given to Phillips.3 One commentator noted "One of the mysteries about 'Mystery Train' was where the title came from; it was mentioned nowhere in the song".3 The song uses lyrics similar to those found in the traditional American folk music group Carter Family's "Worried Man Blues", itself based on an old Celtic ballad,2 and their biggest selling record of 1930:4 The train arrived sixteen coaches longThe train arrived sixteen coaches longThe girl I love is on that train and gone Parker's lyrics include: Train I ride sixteen coaches longTrain I ride sixteen coaches longWell, that long black train carries my baby home5 "Mystery Train" was the follow-up single to Junior Parker's 1953 number five Billboard R&B chart release "Feelin' Good" (Sun 187). Accompanying Parker (vocal) is his backup band the "Blue Flames", whose members at the time are believed to have included:3 Floyd Murphy (guitar),6 William Johnson (piano), Kenneth Banks (bass), John Bowers (drums), and Raymond Hill (tenor sax). Contents 1 Elvis Presley version 2 The Band version 3 Other recordings 4 References 5 External links Elvis Presley version "Mystery Train" Single by Elvis Presley A-side "I Forgot to Remember to Forget" Released August 1955 Format 7" 45 rpm & 10" 78 rpm record Recorded July 11, 1955 at Memphis Recording Service, Memphis, Tennessee Genre Rockabilly5 Length 2:24 Label Sun 223 Writer(s) Junior Parker, Sam Phillips7 Elvis Presley's version of "Mystery Train"5 was first released on August 20, 1955 as the B-side of "I Forgot to Remember to Forget" (Sun 223). Presley's version would be ranked #77 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list in 2003.8 It was again produced by Sam Phillips at Sun Studios, and featured Presley on vocals and rhythm guitar, Scotty Moore on lead guitar, and Bill Black on bass. Moore used a country lead break,9 and toward the end of the record is an echo of the 1946 "Sixteen Tons" by Merle Travis.10 For Presley's version of "Mystery Train", Scotty Moore also borrowed the guitar riff from Junior Parker's "Love My Baby" (1953),11 played by Pat Hare.12 Victor released a pop version of the song by The Turtles with backing by Hugo Winterhalter and his Orchestra (Victor 6356) in December 1955. These Turtles are unlikely to have been the 1960s pop group of the same name, since the lead singers of that group were eight years old at the time. Billboard wrote Presley's version had "cut a swath in the country field".needed Paired with "I Forgot to Remember to Forget", the record was in the Top 10 in Billboard's C&W listings.13 RCA Victor rereleased this recording in December 1955 (#47-6357) after acquiring it as part of a contract with Presley.14 This issue of the song peaked at # 11 on the national Billboard Country Chart.15 "Mystery Train" is now considered to be an "enduring classic".16 It was the first recording to make Elvis Presley a nationally known country music star.1517 Black, who had success with the Bill Black Combo, once said to a visitor to his house in Memphis, as he pointed to a framed 78rpm Sun Record of "Mystery Train" on the wall, "Now there was a record."18 Presley's version was ranked the third most acclaimed song of 1955, by Acclaimed Music.19 The Band version In 1973, with the blessing of Sam Phillips, Robbie Robertson of The Band wrote additional lyrics for "Mystery Train", and the group recorded this version of the song for their Moondog Matinee album. They later performed the song with Paul Butterfield for their 1976 "farewell" concert The Last Waltz.20 Other recordings A variety of musicians have recorded "Mystery Train", including: 1965 – Sam the Sham and the Pharaoahs on the album On Tour. 1965 – Vince Melouney did a cover of this song with Robin Gibb and Maurice Gibb on backing vocals. The song was on his album, Punkville. 1965 – The Paul Butterfield Blues Band from The Paul Butterfield Blues Band 1967 – Ricky Nelson from Country Fever. 1969 – Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash during the Nashville Skyline sessions21 1970 – The Doors from Live in Detroit (released 2000), Live in Philadelphia '70 (released 2005), Live in Boston (released 2007), and live in Pittsburgh as part of "Black Train Song" from 1997's The Doors: Box Set 1970 – Roger Miller from Roger Miller 1970 1972 – Chet Atkins and Jerry Reed from Me & Chet 1974 – Alvin Lee from In Flight 1976 – Kingfish from Kingfish in Concert: King Biscuit Flower Hour (released 1996) 1977 – Jerry Garcia Band from Pure Jerry: Theatre 1839, July 29 & 30, 1977 (released 2004) 1980 – UFO from No Place to Run 1981 – Tom Fogerty from Deal It Out 1981 – The Soft Boys feat. Robyn Hitchcock from Two Halves for the Price of One (live); also another version on 1976-81 (released 1992) 1981 – Gene Summers from Gene Summers in Nashville 1983 – Neil Young from Everybody's Rockin' 1986 – Emmylou Harris from Thirteen 1986 – The Flying Burrito Brothers from Live from Europe 1990 – The Neville Brothers from Brother's Keeper 1992 – Stray Cats from Choo Choo Hot Fish 2005 – Rick Danko from Cryin' Heart Blues (with Paul Butterfield) 2010 – Robert Gordon and Link Wray from Live Fast, Love Hard! (recorded 1978) 2012 – The Grascals from Life Finds a Way References 1.Jump up ^ Junior Parker at AllMusic 2.^ Jump up to: a b Herzhaft, Gerard (1992). Encyclopedia of the Blues. University of Arkansas Press. p. 463. ISBN 1-55728-252-8. 3.^ Jump up to: a b c Escott, Colin (1990). Mystery Train (liner notes). Rounder Records. pp. 1–2. CD SS 38. 4.Jump up ^ "American Experience | The Carter Family: Will the Circle Be Unbroken". Pbs.org. Retrieved 2010-11-29. 5.^ Jump up to: a b c Gilliland, John (1969). "Show 8 - The All American Boy: Enter Elvis and the rock-a-billies. 2" (audio). Pop Chronicles. Digital.library.unt.edu. 6.Jump up ^ Floyd Murphy is a brother of Matt "Guitar" Murphy. Dahl, Bill (1996). All Music Guide to the Blues. Miller Freeman Books. p. 197. ISBN 0-87930-424-3. 7.Jump up ^ Burke, Ken and Dan Griffin. The Blue Moon Boys - The Story of Elvis Presley's Band. Chicago Review Press, 2006. pg. 48. ISBN 1-55652-614-8 8.Jump up ^ "Search Articles, Artists, Reviews, Videos, Music and Movies". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2010-11-29. 9.Jump up ^ Blue Moon Boys. page 48 10.Jump up ^ Tosches, Nick. Country - the Twisted Roots of Rock 'n' Roll. DeCapo Press, 1985. pg 54. ISBN 0-306-80713-0 11.Jump up ^ PARKER, Little Junior : MusicWeb Encyclopaedia of Popular Music 12.Jump up ^ Gillett, Charlie (1984). The sound of the city: the rise of rock and roll (Rev. ed.). New York: Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-394-72638-3. Retrieved 6 July 2012. ""Love My Baby" in particular featured some blistering guitar playing by Pat Hare, which inspired the rockabilly style discussed elsewhere." 13.Jump up ^ Billboard, December 17, 1955. Reviews of New Pop Records. pp.56 and 61. 14.Jump up ^ Presley, Elvis (RCS Artist Discography) samples and labels 15.^ Jump up to: a b Elvis Presley's Sun Recordings 16.Jump up ^ Burke, Ken and Griffin, Dan. The Blue Moon Boys - The Story of Elvis Presley's Band. Chicago Review Press, 2006, p.46. ISBN 1-55652-614-8 17.Jump up ^ Collins, Ace (1996). The Stories Behind Country Music's All-time Greatest: 100 Songs. New York: The Berkeley Publishing Group. pp. 94–96. ISBN 1-57297-072-3. 18.Jump up ^ Burke, Ken and Griffin, Dan. The Blue Moon Boys - The Story of Elvis Presley's Band. Chicago Review Press, 2006, p.152. 19.Jump up ^ "Acclaimed Music Top 3000 songs". 27 May 2009. 20.Jump up ^ Moondog Matinee (1973) liner notes 21.Jump up ^ Gray, Michael (2006). The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia. New York-London: Continuum International. p. 127. ISBN 0-8264-6933-7. External links Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics Category:American songs Category:Junior Parker songs Category:Blues songs Category:Elvis Presley songs Category:1953 singles Category:Rockabilly songs Category:Tom Fogerty songs Category:Gene Summers songs Category:Bob Dylan songs Category:Neil Young songs Category:Ricky Nelson songs Category:The Band songs Category:Ronnie McDowell songs Category:Emmylou Harris songs Category:Paul Simon songs Category:Jerry Reed songs Category:Bruce Springsteen songs Category:Jimmy Velvit songs Category:Songs about trains Category:Song recordings produced by Sam Phillips Category:1953 songs Category:Sun Records singles